Indiana public schools will literally get a reality check this week.
School corporations are expected to see their first state funding payments this week since Gov. Mitch Daniels announced $300 million in cuts to the K-12 budget, and we suspect it won’t be pretty.
Those checks will put added pressure on districts to cut millions of dollars from their budget without laying off teachers, as suggested by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Daniels’ suggestion can and should be followed. But state education officials fear local school boards will take the easy way out and lay off teachers, instead of demanding salary freezes or health coverage contributions from teachers unions that would keep their members working and class sizes manageable.
Residents can help schools avoid that fate by insisting that their school boards initiate contract concession talks with their unions now.
State education leaders informed superintendents of the impending budget crisis as early as November, and the Indiana Department of Education recently issued a checklist for local school boards with suggestions to trim their budget while keeping educators in the classroom.
But many in Indianapolis, including state Superintendent Tony Bennett, are concerned that some items on the checklist, such as teacher salary concessions or trimming employee benefit costs, are being overlooked or ignored.
The Richmond Community Schools board, for example, approved pay raises, one-time stipends, and expensive changes to health benefits as part of a new teachers union contract signed in December.
Those expenses are expected to cost RCS more than $2.5 million over the next year, according to Pal-Item.com. That is only one of several examples.
RCS and many other school corporations in the state now are bracing their communities for teacher layoffs. Despite their financial situation, most Indiana school systems seem to be ignoring the elephant in the room- concessions from their teachers union.
“Any district can find two or three percent savings without reducing teacher staff,” Bennett said in a news release. “If everyone, including teachers themselves will pitch in, we’ll get through this recession just fine.”
That makes a lot of sense, but we at Education Action Group Foundation (ISTAexposed.com) fear nobody is listening.
Indiana State Teachers Association President Nate Schnellenberger simply talks around the issue of concessions with a swift “but teachers are professionals,” and everybody nods their heads.
The ISTA, meanwhile, is diligently working to pass legislation that would allow schools to shift funds between accounts, a measure designed to preserve union perks.
EAGF believes Indiana taxpayers deserve more from the union and their local school boards. We believe it only makes sense to ask our educators to contribute to solving the budget problem with a freeze on their automatic raises, a small salary cut, or a contribution to their health care coverage. Those measures could save millions.
The ISTA will not contribute on its own. Local school boards must stand up and demand concessions. Otherwise, the state’s young, eager educators will be filing into the unemployment office, class sizes will swell, and students will suffer.